Bringing rugby back

Friday

Oct 19, 2012 at 2:00 AM

What do you do if you’re part of a team seriously lacking in structure, support and commitment?

Kathleen Szmit

Kathleen Szmit Photo

ALL IN – Members of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy rugby team, including its president, Tyler Evaul (center, back row) of Marstons Mills, pause for a photo while volunteering Oct. 13 at the Special Olympics Massachusetts fall games at Falmouth High School.

BHS grad revives MMA club team

What do you do if you’re part of a team seriously lacking in structure, support and commitment? Some might quit, but if you’re Tyler Evaul, you take charge and take over.

That’s just what the Barnstable High graduate and current Mass Maritime Academy junior did with the school’s floundering rugby club.

Longing to bring the club up to respectable status, while at the same time enjoying the intensely physical, strategic sport, Evaul stepped into the role of club president, determined to shine a light on what he feels is a worthy program.

“The club has been around since 2002,” Evaul said. “When I joined the club in the spring of 2011, the team was strictly a club. A lack of structure and commitment was easily noticeable and the reputation of the rugby club was not at high standards at the Academy.”

After the team’s coach relocated prior to the start of the 2011 fall season (the team plays fall and spring), the club was forced to play through the fall without a coach.

The club’s lack of funding and its small number of semi-interested players concerned Evaul.

“The club was barely anything on the map and I would have been disappointed to see it disappear,” he said. “This motivated me to find us a new coach and gain presidency in the club to make the necessary changes.”

Evaul tapped Matt Malone as the program’s new coach, who initially committed to just a year of coaching in the hopes of building a base and helping the team find its organizational structure.

“After a very short time I realized how important rugby and its culture was to me as a person,” Malone said. “I have a background as both a player and coach in the sport.”

Malone, a firefighter for C-O-MM from Mashpee, was several years removed from his last coaching experience, and said that the time away from coaching allowed him to take the skills learned as a firefighter and teacher and apply them to teaching the game of rugby to the MMA men’s rugby team.

Malone said that in his opinion, rugby and lacrosse are two of the fastest growing youth sports in the US.

“With rugby numbers and talent on the rise, competitive doors to the sport have opened in a way that was never imagined 10 years ago,” Malone said. “USA Rugby has taken a serious interest in both youth and collegiate teams and players, making involvement well-rounded in all aspects. Rugby is as enjoyable as ever!”

For Evaul, the passion for the sport comes from the bond between players and the game’s physicality.

“When I joined the club, I immediately fell in love with the camaraderie of the team, the sport itself and the general nature of a full contact sport,” said Evaul, a former BHS football and hockey player. “I envisioned myself playing throughout my time at Mass Maritime.”

As part of his presidential duties, Evaul is working to drum up a fan base for the team, and encourages people to come to their games.

“This has been our biggest challenge as a club,” Evaul said. “Besides our parents, no one is saying ‘let’s go to the rugby match this weekend.’”

Those who do come won’t be sorry, said Evaul.

He describes rugby as a “combination of a variety of sports” that requires a serious amount of athleticism.

“It has everything an athlete and a spectator could want in a sport: offensive scoring, defensive big hits, trick plays, aggression and fun,” he said. “It is a non-stop game that keeps you on your toes and always guessing, which make the game extremely interesting to play and watch.”

Last year the team battled to a second place finish at the annual Beast of the East Collegiate Rugby Tourney in Men’s Div. 2, a feat they hope to improve upon next time around.

Another goal as president of the club was to improve the reputation of the program, with Evaul and his team choosing to seek out volunteer work within the community, including a daylong stint last weekend helping out at Special Olympics Massachusetts.

“Last semester, myself and a group of students volunteered at Special Olympics and it was extremely rewarding,” Evaul said. “When I recently came in contact with one of the coordinators of Special Olympics, I asked if the team could volunteer.”

The answer was a resounding ‘Yes,’ and on Oct. 13, Evaul and 24 members of the team spent the day monitoring various events at the SOMA games.

“It is a big event each year with a spectacular amount of athletes and volunteers,” Evaul said. “The atmosphere is nothing but positive.”

That, Evaul said, along with the team’s rejuvenation, bodes well for the future.

“We intend to keep our renewed reputation as a group of young men and as a rugby team,” Evaul said. “We want to win matches, have fun and take advantage of every opportunity we can.”

Fans can check out the MMA Rugby Team tonight, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. at Clean Harbors Stadium at Mass Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay.

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